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ESSAYS 

ON THE 

PHILOSOPHY OF INSTRUCTION 



ESSAYS 



PHILOSOPHY 



INSTRUCTION? 



NURTURE OF YOUNG MINDS. 

9 ^f j bu^f xM^ KM<tSJ^ 



FOURTH EDITIOS. 



A. PHELPS, GREENFIELD, MASS. 

1835. 






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ADVERTISEMENT. 

It is about ten years since the first publication of the 
following Essays. In many towns, considerable changes 
have taken place in the lapse of these ten years, and some 
of the remarks contained in the Essays are no longer appli- 
cable to them. It is believed, however, that the community 
in general is yet very far from realizing the importance of 
the principle, which the author has endeavored to prove and 
enforce. , 



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■r3 *06 



ESSAY I. 

The present is emphatically an age of philo- 
sophical inquiry and of corresponding improve- 
ment in the various arts of life. No former pe- 
riod has been so generally characterised by a dis- 
position to question the truth of those principles 
and the utility of those customs, which appear to 
have no better foundation, than that of antiquity, 
or common consent. This remark applies to 
politics and civil government, to agriculture, and 
to most of the mechanic arts. 

In surveying the ancient world, as presented 
in civil history, we observe here and there a lumi- 
nous region of some little extent. In successive 
ages many of the arts and sciences shone forth 
with great lustre in Egypt, Chaldea, Persia, Phoe* 
nicia, Greece, and Italy. In general, however, 
these lights were surrounded with great darkness. 
There was no sun in the intellectual heavens, to 
diffuse a powerful and impartial influence through 



all nations, nor indeed through either hemisphere 
or quarter of the globe. There was no constella- 
tion of smaller orbs, unitedly struggling with the 
darkness of the times. Scarcely two stars ap- 
peared at once in their full magnitude and splen- 
dor. Generally, when one rose, another declined, 
or passed under a cloud. 

In the most civilized nations of antiquity the 
arts of war were preferred to the arts of 'peace. — 
The principal labor and study of mankind was to 
destroy men's lives, not to save, improve, and 
bless. The nominal patriot loved, or pretended 
to love his own country even to idolatry. To that 
deity he was ready to sacrifice the principles of 
justice and humanity. It was enough that his 
country was preeminent in national splendor ; — 
and it was a matter of little concern, whether this 
object were secured by improving the state of 
things, or by spreading ruin and misery among 
the nations around. The spirit of war, indeed, 
the source of almost every evil, which has afflict- 
ed the world, has been characteristic of all ages, 
from that of Nimrod down to the present. War 
has been the grand enterprise of all generations 
and almost all nations ; and it has absorbed so 
much of their time, and property, and strength, 
and zeal, and invention, as to leave compara- 



lively nothing for those works of peace, for which 
these resources and endowments were exclusively 
designed. 

While the world in general has been thus ea- 
gerly engaged in murder and plunder, and devas- 
tation, some few in different periods, have kept 
aloof from scenes of blood, and from those careers 
of ambition, which are connected with them, and 
have devoted their time and their zeal to study. 
To these we are indebted for a great variety of 
discoveries in regard to the laws, or operations of 
nature, from which we have already derived very 
important aids in th« common arts of life, and 
which may lead to farther improvements, surpass- 
ing all our present conceptions. The last twenty 
years have been greatly distinguished for the ap- 
plication of old principles to new and important 
designs, for the adaptation of machinery to almost 
every species of labor, and for successive improve- 
ments in different machines both in respect to the 
despatch, and to the perfection of their operations. 
These general improvements are conspicuous in 
our country ; they are among the principal glories 
of the present age in Great Britain ; and, I believe, 
they are exciting a good degree of iemulation in 
almost every country in Europe ; while^a kindred 
1* 



6 

Spirit is diffusing itself more or less in other 
quarters of the world. 

In our favored land, improvements may be 
traced in the implements and operations of hus- 
bandry. Still greater advances have been made 
in many of the mechanic arts, particularly in the 
facture of nails, and cards, and cloth of various 
kinds. 

The wonderful advancements, which every one 
must have observed in many arts of secondary 
importance, suggests a query of unspeakable mo- 
ment, viz : Whether the improvements, we have 
made in the means and methods of common edu- 
cation, correspond to those, which appear in other 
things, and to the superlative importance of the 
subject. 

To this question the deepest convictions of my 
mind compel me to answer-^ No. It is unques- 
tionable indeed, that our children spend more 
weeks and months in school than we did, and, I 
believe, they are generally furnished with better 
instructers ; while they have more books, and in 
many branches decidedly better books, than were 
formerly in use. But whatever may be said of 
our elementary books, or of the improved modes 
and methods of using them, I am perfectly satis- 
fied, that there is still room for as great improve- 



ments in some things of fundamental importance, 
as have within the last twenty years been made in 
the facture of cards, or the navigation of rivers. 
There is a principle in human nature, corres- 
ponding to the mightiest elements in the material 
world, which has hitherto been little regarded in 
the provision of books for common schools ; the 
principle of curiosity ; that curiosity, which is 
the most prominent feature of the child ; which 
discovers itself in lisping infancy by a thousand 
inquiries about facts and reasons ; which, if care- 
fully nourished, would *^ grow with their growth 
and strengthen with their strength ;" operating on 
all the intellectual machinery as powerfully, as 
wind or steam in external nature. To avail our- 
selves of this principle, it is evident, we must cul- 
tivate the UNDERSTANDING ; WO must make this 
the leading object of all our instructions. We 
must give children real information, and this in- 
formation must, from the necessity of things, be 
such as they are capable of receiving and digest- 
ing. When they ask milk, we must not give 
them meat. Still less should we give them stones 
for bread. We must proceed gradually from the 
simplest things to those, which are more difficult, 
and must see that we do not overcharge their 



8 



ininds with wholesome things, so as to produce 
satiety, disgust^ and mental debility. 



ESSAY II. 

The principles suggested in the former essay, 
appear to me the plainest dictates of philosophy 
and common sense ; and yet how little are they 
-generally regarded in the education of the young ! 
How often are our children and youth launched 
upon the broad ocean of study without line or 
compass, or set blindfold to perform the most ar- 
duous labours 1 In the study of Greek, for in- 
stance, a branch of learning, in which philosophy 
might be supposed to have entire control, the 
first four or five weeks are consumed in a slavish 
exertion of the memory, with scarcely one gleam 
of light directed to the understanding. This, I 
conceive, is just as wise, as it would be to require 
a pupil to commit all the definitions and rules of 
arithmetic from beginning to end, before he per- 
formed a single operation, or comprehended an 
individual principle. Instead of these four or 
€ve weeks, I should say that, after the alphabet 



9 

is thoroughly learned, a single day^ employed on 
a few of the simplest forms of the noun, the ad- 
jective, and the verb, and three or four rules of 
syntax, is sufficient to prepare the learner for 
translating and parsing the first lessons of such a 
reading book, as we ought to have ; a book, so 
arranged as to illustrate, and impress on the mind 
gradually and successively, all the principles of 
grammar, at the very moment they are committed 
to memory. With such a book, and such a 
method, the progress of the learner would, I am 
persuaded, be unspeakably more rapid and tho- 
rough, while a tedious labour would be converted 
into pleasure. The like observations might be 
made on the study of Latin. If we would do 
any thing thoroughly, or if we would do it with 
the greatest possible despatch, we must see that 
we do not attempt too many things at once, nor 
too much of the same thing. A child may re- 
move a mound of earth by little and little, on 
which, if attempted in the mass, the strongest 
man might expend all his efforts in vain. 

The same inattention to the order of nature 
and reason is observable in the rudiments, and 
almost the whole progress of English reading. 
In some of the first lessons in spelling, the child 
is overwhelmed with words, which are totally un- 



10 

« 

meaning to him ; many of which can hardly be 
considered, as belonging to the English language. 
A multitude of others are of no present use to 
children, while perhaps the greater part of those, 
for which they have an immediate demand, are 
excluded. The consequence is, that after having 
spent many a tedious month on their spellings, 
when they are put on reading sentences, they are 
every moment meeting with words, which, though 
perhaps familiar to their ears, are strangers to 
their eyes. In this situation they hesitate and 
stammer, and drawl out every word, exhausting 
their own spirits, and those of their instructer. 
Hence, I think we may emphatically ask, what is 
the use, or the proper design of a spelling-book 1 
Some perhaps may reply. It is to exercise the 
MEMORY of children ; to acquaint them with the 
PRONUNCIATION of words J and to prepare them 
for writing correctly in subsequent life. All 
these things, indeed, may well be brought into 
view ; but, I contend, they should all be subor^ 
dinate to another design, viz. that of training the 
child more directly and effectually for the reading 
of sentences ; that he may be enabled to read his 
first lesson of this kind with readiness, and propri- 
ety, and grace. So far as memory is the final 
object, that will receive better nourishment from 



11 

things than from the shadows of things ; and stilt 
more, than from the shadow of shadows. I should 
as soon think of crowding the stomach of a child 
with food, which I knew he could not digest for 
one, two, four, six, or ten years, as I should of re- 
quiring him to learn the orthography, or pronun- 
ciation of words, which were either to be forgotten, 
or to lie, as a useless burden on his mind for the 
same period of time. The mind of the learner 
should be like the lumber room or depository of 
the cabinet-maker, where there is no superfluity, 
and no confusion ; where the use and design of 
every article is understood, and where every thing 
is so thoroughly sorted and arranged, that, when 
required for use, it may be instantly found. Edu- 
cation, in all its branches, should be perfectly 
analogous to the gradual and direct process of 
nature, in rearing the tender germ of the acorn 
jnto the majestic oah. It should resemble the 
work of the mason, who begins at the foundation, 
not at the top, nor the middle of the building ; 
who makes each course of stone or brick to an- 
swer the double purpose of filling its own proper 
place in the building and of preparing directly 
and immediately for the next course ; and not a 
single brick is laid without accomplishing both 
these ends. 
If I have not wholly misunderstood the dictates 



12 

of philosophy, this gradual, direct, and constant 
progress should appear in all the elementary books, - 
employed in education, without excepting a single 
branch, as also in the method of using these 
books. 

To begin then with the foundation, and of 
course, with that, which is most essential to the 
building we would rear, we want a primary book 
for children, which shall contain the alphabet, 
tables of syllables, lessons in sentences, consisting 
of words which are perfectly understood by chil- 
dren, and of previous lessons in spelling, in which 
every word contained in those sentences, shall be 
collected, and, as far as practicable, so arranged, 
as to suggest the proper pronunciation without 
the use of any key. Let the divisions of the 
books be such, that the child need not spell more 
than a hundred, or a hundred and fifty words, 
before he is put on reading the same words in 
composition. Let him, however, go over with 
those spellings, till they are as familiar to his 
eyes, as they are to his ears and to his under- 
standing; till he can not only spell every word 
without missing a letter, but is able without 
spelling to read the columns from top to bottom as 
fast, as he will ever have occasion to pronounce 
them. With this preparation, the child of four or 
five years will, at the first glance, read the follow- 



13 

ing sentences, more naturally, more gracefully, and 
of course more pathetically, than many of those 
adults, who have the reputation of orators. After 
the ingenious child has learned his letters and his 
abs, a very few weeks, I am persuaded, are suffi- 
cient for all this. 

When we have thus disposed of one hundred of 
the shortest and most familiar words, we are to 
proceed in the same manner with another hundred 
of those which are a little longer ; and then with 
another, and so on, till we have gone through 
with all the useful words, of which the young 
child, in all varieties of life and association, can be 
supposed to know the meaning. Here I conceive 
the spelling-book should end, and the dictionary 
commence ; taking it as a leading, an all-con- 
trolling principle, that the child is not to be taught 
a single sentence, or word, without an endeavor 
to make him understand it. It appears to me in- 
dispensable to a good system of education, that 
we have books better adapted, than any I have 
yet seen, for teaching children the meaning of 
language. We want a dictionary, in which the 
words, that require the particular attention of the 
learner, shall, in some simple way or other, be 
distinguished on the one hand from those words 
which are already so familiar, as to render it more 



14 

than useless^ to define them, and on the other 
hand, from those provincial, technical, and pe- 
dantic words, which in other points of view are 
equally objectionable, as exercises for the young. 
The intermediate class of words, which occur 
rarely in conversation, but frequently in elegant 
writing, require definition, in order to prepare the 
young to read, either with pleasure or profit, al- 
most any book that will fall into their hands. — 
These definitions should not be such, as we often 
find in dictionaries and other books of that kind, 
which are still farther from the apprehension of 
the learner, than the very words they are intend- 
ed to illustrate. A definition that is not under- 
stood, is no definition at all ; it is calculated only 
to increase the evil, it professes to correct. Had 
we such a dictionary as we ought to have, I 
should say, that children should no longer be left 
as with few exceptions they always have been, to 
catch the meaning of words by accident, one in a 
day, or one in a week, or one in a month, perhaps,^ 
and after j^^y years, to remain very imperfectly 
acquainted with that language, on which they 
must depend for all information and instruction, 
relative to those subjects, which cannot be pre- 
sented immediately to their inspection. On the 
contrary, I contend, that in connection with or- 



15 

thography, the meaning of words should be sys* 
tematically and directly taught, as an indispensa- 
ble preparation for reading the higher species of 
composition ; and in order to realize the full ben- 
efit of those exercises, all the lessons in reading 
should be composed and arranged as far as may be, 
in such a manner, as to bring into immediate use, 
all the words which have been spelled and defined. 
By such a process, the child of common capacity 
would, I doubt not, by the time he was eight 
years old, be better acquainted with the language, 
than he now is at the age of fifteen. He would 
spell it better, he would understand it better, and 
he would read it incomparahly better. 



ESSAY III. 

The principles laid down in the preceding essay 
are analogous, I think, to those which are con- 
stantly acted upon by all judicious persons in the 
ordinary business of life. In almost every em- 
ployment, we may find those, who disregard those 
principles, as well as those who observe them ; 
and there is a striking contrast in the effects of 



16 

tlieir exertions. One goes to work without con- 
sidering what he wants, or what is necessary to 
secure the end, of which he has only an indis- 
tinct view. He spends a great deal of time and 
strength in collecting things, which are not only 
useless, but are an incumbrance to him ; and 
when he proceeds to the execution of his design, 
he is every moment interrupted by the want of 
something, which he has not procured, and which 
perhaps he knows not where to find. All is hur- 
ry, and bustle, and fatigue ; but little or nothing 
is effected. Another has a distinct view of his 
object ; he considers what instruments and ma- 
terials are necessary to the accomplishmentof his 
purpose ; and provides accordingly every thing ne- 
cessary, but nothing superfluous. He arranges ev- 
ery thing in its proper place ; and, as he proceeds 
in his operations, all is order, ease, and despatch. 
Much is done with little apparent effort. I ap- 
peal to every person of observation and reflection, 
whether the course, pursued by the former of 
these persons, does not bear a sad resemblance 
to the course generally pursued in teaching chil- 
dren the art of reading, and, on the other hand, 
whether the practice of the latter be not parallel 
to the method we are now recommending. 

It is high time the subject engaged more gen- 
eral attention, than it ever has done ; and I would 



17 



call not only on philosophers and men of learning, 
but on all persons, who are at all in the habit of 
thinking on common subjects, to contemplate the 
enormous evils, arising from the general course of 
early education. 

The first evil, which presents itself in this view 
of things, is the great waste of time. If, with a 
little attention to method, our children might be 
enabled to acquire as much of real information in 
one year, as they now do in two, three, or four 
years, the aggregate loss to society is immense ; 
MUCH GREATER than would generally be supposed. 
While it is a very common error, it is a lamenta- 
ble one, to regard the time of the child, as of little 
inoment. It is neither station nor years, but 
inind, knowledge, and practical skill, which make 
the man, or the woman. If we look through so- 
ciety, we may find many adults, who are mere 
children, even in hodily labor, and still more in 
every mental exercise ; while on the other hand 
we see children, who, in every thing but animal 
strength and stature, are men and women. Let 
the year, for instance, between four and five be 
lost, it is lost forever. The child is one year lon- 
ger in coming to maturity ; and no subsequent 
exertions can ever make him what he might oth- 
erwise have been. 

But the loss of time, great as it is, is very far 
2* 



18 

from being the principal evil, arising from th© 
want of method in common education. While 
our children make little progress in real informa-* 
lion, they are rendered in a measure incapable 
o^ future proficiency. The understanding can- 
not long be neglected without being stinted, if 
not thoroughly blighted. The mind as naturally 
hungers for truth, as the body does for animal 
food ; and it is no less unphilosophioal and unwise^ 
not to say inhuman, to neglect this natural crav- 
ing in the one case, than it is in the other. We 
should make it as much a principle of conscience 
and of feeling to supply our children with mental 
food every day, and if possible every hour, as we 
do to provide them with their necessary meals. I 
do not mean that they should be kept constantly 
at their books, nor that we should be perpetually 
delivering them lectures, w^hich are addressed 
more to their ears than to their apprehensions^ 
but that we should accomodate ourselves to their 
natural curiosity ; that we should encourage and 
answer their questions, and adapt all our instruct 
tions to their understandings, so that every day 
jiiay add something to the strength and capacity 
of their minds. But, alas, how far is this from 
what we generally see in our schools, where for 
several years at least, the memory and the tongue 
are every thing, and the understanding nothing ! 



19 

Some, however, may ask, by way of objection 
to what has been said, If the understanding is thus 
neglected, and if the natural consequence of such 
neglect is to blight the mind, and render it inca- 
pable of future cultivation, how happens it that 
we see so many rising superior to these disadvan- 
tages, and displaying through the whole course of 
their lives so much intellectual vigor ? To this 
question I answer, that the mind of the child, 
however neglected, is not entirely without nour- 
ishment. Like the young animal, it picks up for 
itself here and there something to sustain its life, 
and contribute to its gratification. In general it 
is not in schools, but in the common intercourse 
of life, that the meaning o^ language is learned, 
and that the child is formed to a capacity for re- 
ceiving any kind of instruction whatever. Wher- 
ever he goes, wherever he is, he sees something, 
from which he learns something ; by which his 
mind is kept from falling into a state of torpor ; — 
by which it is nourished, and strengthened, and 
entertained. In general the common school has 
never been, as it should have been, the principal 
nursery of thought. It has not been the house of 
feasting, but the house oi fasting ; where there 
has been almost as little employment, or recrea- 
tion for the mind, as there has been for the limbs, 
I am aware it may be said, there is a vast dif- 



20 



ference between those children who have been 
educated in the common schools, and those who 
have had no such advantages ; a difference, which 
continues through the whole period of life ; and 
this may seem incompatible with the representa- 
tions above. The fact is readily acknowledged, 
but it may be accounted for in a different manner ; 
for it is remarkable, that those children, who are 
kept from school, have in general few, or no ad- 
vantages at home. Their parents for the most 
part are both ignorant and vicious. They give 
their children no instruction ; they set them no 
good example ; they neither attend public worship 
themselves, nor provide their children with such 
apparel, as would render it decent for them to 
attend. 

That we are much more indebted to the com-- 
mon intercourse of life, than we are to the instruc- 
tion of schools, for the information of our minds 
and the diffusion of practical knowledge, is appa- 
rent from the fact that many of the most useful 
and most respectable men, our country has ever 
produced, have been those, who enjoyed very lit- 
tle benefit from literary instruction of any kind, 
whether public or private, but who became what 
they were, by the habit of observation, and a free 
intercourse with the world. Far be it from me, 
however, to represent that schools are not of the 



21 

highest importance. The preceding observations 
have been made with the sole design of exposing 
some of the enormous evils, arising from the in- 
veterate custom of paying incomparably more at- 
tention to the memory, than we do to the under- 
standing, in the exercises of our common schools. 



ESSAY IV. 

We have noticed some grand defects in the 
modes of instruction, generally pursued in the 
common schools, and particularly in relation to 
language. It is a notorious and undeniable fact, 
that in these schools, with very few exceptions, it 
has never been a leading object, nor scarcely any 
object at all, to make children acquainted with 
the meaning of words. Some of their first exer- 
cises have been composed in a great measure of 
words, of which they knew nothing, for which 
they had no use, and in which, of course, they 
could not possibly feel an interest ; and this inat- 
tention to their wants and feelings, and to the final 
object of all their studies, has, till very lately, ap- 
peared through the whole course of their spelling 



22 

and reading. Two incalculable evils, arising 
from this neglect of method in the fundamental 
branches of education, were in some measure de- 
veloped in my last essay, viz. The vast sacrifice of 
time, and the irreparable injury done to the un- 
derstanding by this long and systematic neglect. 

Another and a distinct evil, arising from this 
neglect, is the discouragement ^ which prevents 
many children from exerting the little mind they 
have. As no exertions are made either to cherish 
and gratify their curiosity, or to inform their 
minds ; as all is dark before them, around them, 
and within them ; as they can see no use in the 
laborious studies to which they are called ; it is 
not to be supposed, that they should enjoy any 
pleasure in them ; and where they feel no satis- 
faction, they will not long discover any ardour. 
Instead of a few days, our children are kept toiling 
for weeks, and months, and frequently for years, 
on a dry and insipid spelling-book ; and after all 
this intolerable drudgery, when they are put on 
reading sentences, they are totally unprepared to 
pronounce many of the shortest and simplest 
words. The consequence in regard to many is 
an unconquerable disgust with their books. To 
overcome this difficulty, we constantly appeal to 
the ambition of children, the only principle in- 
deed, on which we can rely, after their natural 



23 

curiosity is extinct. We teach them to compare 
themselves one with another; to study, not to 
learn what is useful, but to excel, or to rise above 
their fellows. In this way many indeed are ex- 
cited, and made willing to labor from week to 
week and from month to month on things, which, 
to them, are perfectly nonsensical. But whatever 
advantages may arise from appealing to such a 
motive, they are counterbalanced by great disad- 
vantages. Children who are most capable of excel- 
ling, are rendered more studious and more success- 
ful by it; but those, to whom nature has been less 
favorable, and for whom above all others we ought 
to consult, are proportionally disheartened. The 
former become vain, and the latter envious and 
idle. From idleness the transition is very easy to 
almost every species of mischief and disorder; 
and what was intended for a school of wisdom and 
virtue, too often becomes a school of vice and 
folly. 

Such are some of the evils, resulting from the 
general neglect of that grand incentive to mental 
exertion, natural curiosity, and the constant appeal 
that is made to the spirit of emulation. But the 
evils do not close here. Generally, those who are 
disgusted with the books at school, neglect them 
through their whole life. The many hours, which 
might be spent in useful reading, are consumed 



24 

either in idleness or dissipation. Such persons 
are comparatively useless and unhappy, if not nui- 
sances to society, and frequently come to an igno- 
minious end. These unhappy tendencies of things, 
alas, receive no very powerful check from the 
public institutions of religion. Many children 
are not encouraged in attending on these institu- 
tions ; and those who are, understand very little 
of what they hear. As they have never been 
taught the meaning of language, nor the exercise 
of their understandings, scarcely one sentence in 
five is intelligible to them, before the age of ten 
or twelve years : and long before this period they 
may have formed the habit of hearing without 
attention, a habit which may be lasting as life. 

I would therefore call upon every tender parent, 
to interest himself in a subject, so vitally important 
to the temporal and eternal welfare of his children. 
And I would entreat the enlightened patriot and 
PHILANTHROPIST to engage with ardor and perse- 
verance in effecting a reformation, on which the 
prosperity of millions depends. 

The spirit of the age is the spirit of improve- 
ment ; and this spirit is constantly increasing in 
zeal and activity. Every breath of philosophy, 
evry breath of liberty and every breath of genu- 
ine CHRISTIANITY faus the flame of generous en- 
terprise ; and the progress of philosophy, liberty 



25 

and Christianity, renders it almost certain, that 
great improvement in the system of instruction 
must and will take place. 

APPENDIX. 

The reader who v/as not before acquainted with 
the fact, is hereby informed that since the first 
publication of the preceding essays, a series of 
books, intended to facilitate the course, which is 
there recommended, has been published. The 
first, entitled the Franklin Primer, of which 
twelve editions have already appeared ; the second, 
entitled the Improved Reader, of which more 
than twenty editions have been published, the 
third, under the title of the General Class-Book, 
of which thirteen editions have been published, 
and the fourth, entitled the Popular Reader, 
just published at the close of the year 1834. 
The object of the four books is to carry the 
child by an easy and gradual process from his 
alphabet to such acquaintance with the meaning, 
as well as the orthography and pronunciation of 
common language, as will enable him to read 
with understanding and grace any book on a pop- 
ular subject, which is written in a style either 
simple or elegant; while the lessons in reading 
will, as it is hoped, be found equal, if not superior 
3 



26 

to any others of the kind, in respect to the useful 
information they will impart, the entertainment 
they will afford, and the moral effects they are 
calculated to produce. 

The size of the Primer is 54 pages, 18mo. that 
of the Improved Reader 186, the General Class- 
Book 324, and the Popular Reader 353, 13mo. 

In regard to mechanical execution, the propri- 
etor intends hereafter to print these books on two 
or three different kinds of paper, common and 
fine, and if desired, will put them in different 
modes of binding, thus providing at once for the 
convenience of the poor, and the gratification of 
those, with whom the saving of a few cents in the 
price of a book, is a matter of little comparative 
importance. Both however will be furnished on 
moderate terms. 



27 



The books may be had on application to the publisher, 
A. PhelpSy Greenfield Mass. Also of Wm. PeirceJ and 
Crocker & Brewster, Boston. 



School Committees, judicious parents, 
members of Lyceums, and all who feel 
an interest in the mental and moral im- 
provement of society, are respectfully 
requested to examine and decide for 
themselves, how far the books are calcu- 
lated to remove some radical defects in 
our modes of education; and the query 
is humbly suggested to the trustees of 
academies and the instructers of other 
schools for similar purposes, whether a 
course of study like that which is fur- 
nished in the General Class Book, would 
not tend to supply some of the greatest 
and the most frequent defects of those, 
who are to be employed in the instruc- 
tion of common schools. 

To justify appeals, which in the view 
of some, perhaps, might otherwise seem 
arrogant, the followmg notices and re- 
commendations are subjoined. 



28 
The Franklin Primer. 

Extract from a review of the Franklin Primer^ published 
in the American Journal of Education, 

" This little book is one of the most ingenious Improve- 
ments in this branch of instruction, that has hitherto been 
recorded in our Journal. We would not leave this highly 
meritorious production, without adverting to its excellent 
adaptation to the minds of very young children. All the 
reading lessons are simple, easy, intelligible, and natural in 
their style ; and they will prepare the little learner to read 
with an unassuming and lively manner, in works of a higher 
order." 

From the Teacher s Guide, printed at Portland, (Me.) 
— Extract, 

'' The FRANKLIN PRIMER contains some of the best 
lessons we have ever seen. The style and sentiments are 
perfectly suited to the capacity of a child, and is expressed 
in language which a child understands. It is the style of 
conversation. It is simple, natural and lively. It is well 
suited to banish monotony, artificial tones, and every species 
of dulness in reading, and to form a habit of reading with 
emphasis, with spirit, with propriety.'* 

In a communication published in the Christian Register, 
of Jan. 1829, prmted in Boston, a writer under the signa- 
ture of "W. R." while recommending the American Ly- 
ceum, speaks incidentally of the Franklin Primer, in the 
following terms : 

''That excellent little Book, the best, perhaps, of its kind, 
in the English language." 

From Josiah Holbrook, Esq. of Boston, Author of Easy 
Lessons in Geometry, the Improved Apparatus for Infant 
Schools, and Lecturer on School Keeping, Lyceums, S^c. 

"It gives me pleasure to state it as my opinion that the 
method of learning the names and sounds of letters and of 
the first elements of a literary education adopted in the 
Franklin Primer, is founded upon the Philosophy of the 
Mind, and fitted fjr the pleasing and rapid improvement of 
children, and worthy to be adopted in every school of ele- 
mentary instruction," 



29 

The Improved Reader. 

From the Christian Register^ published in Boston, 
''The Improved Reader. — "This seems to us a valuable 
book. It is designed to make intelligent and thorough rea- 
ders, and to remedy the ancient evil of children toiling 
through book after book, and at last reading like machines, 
without intelligence or grace. It is the introduction and 
use of school books like this, which is to rid the land of au- 
tomaton teachers and pupils." 

From the Rev. Theophilus Packard, /). D. 
"Having examined the 'Improved Reader,' it appears, in 
my view, well calculated for our Common Schools. The 
method of introducing as parts of lessons the definitions of 
words difficult to be understood by young children, is excel- 
lent. The piece?, select and original, will doubtless be in- 
teresting and profitable to the youthful mind." 

THEOPHILUS PACKARD. 

From the Hon. Samuel C. Allen, Member of Congress. 
— Extract.- 

"In both these works," speaking of the Franklin Primer, 
and the Improved Reader, "it has been the design of the 
author to adapt the instruction to the capacity of the pupil, 
and to keep alive his curiosity by presenting to his mind 
new subjects always within his grasp in every stage of his 
progress. 

"He has, it is believed, achieved what could not be done 
but by the union of philosophy and experience, and tias giv- 
en to the public a book which will aid and interest the 
young mind and exoedite its course of improvement.'' 

SAMUEL C. ALLEiN. 

From Rev. S. M. Worcester, late Professor of Rhetoric 
and Oratory, in Amherst College. 
"I am happy to express my approbation of the ^Improved 
Reader.' It richly merits the patronage of the public." 

S. M. WORCESTER. 

From Rev. Thomas Shepard, 
"In regard to the Improved Reader, 1 am pleased with 
the outlines of the work. Its design is excellent, its style 
simple and chaste," THOS. SHEPHARD. 

3* 



30 



The Creneral Class^Sook. 

Sxtractfrom a review of the work by Rev. Wintkrop Bailey. 
^'Without undertaking any thing like an analysis of the 
work, we would merely say thai it contains all which the 
title page implies. There is a great variety in the pieces,* 
they are short, instructive and interesting ; they are calcu- 
lated to excite and gratify the curiosity of the young; they 
communicate much useful information. These pieces ren- 
der this work one of the most useful and entertaining books 
for reading in school, with which we are acquainted ; so 
that in a very cheap form it will be found to answer the 
double purpose of aiding children in acquiring the orthogra- 
phy and pronunciation of our language, and imparting to 
them in familiar terms, a knowledge of many important 
facts in history, in the arts, and in common life." 

Extracts from a letter to the Author from Hon. W. B, 
Calhoun, for several years Chairman of the Committee on 
Education in the Legislature of Massachusetts, and afterward 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

In reference to the Franklin Primer, the Improved Rea- 
der, and the General Class-Book, he says, "1 gave them i\ 
very thoiough examination, and found them so peculiarly 
adapted to the wants of children in the early stages of edu- 
cation, that I recommended their introduction into our 
schools at once. They are just the kind of books that are 
needed, as 1 think, to make the business of education plea- 
sant and useful. Of all things that can be put in the way of 
young children, the spelling book is the most mischievous ; 
I mean as connected with the business of learning. The 
child should from the outset understand every thing, as he 
goes along. This is evidently the object and sciieme of 
your books ; and they must answer the purpose. I con- 
gratulate you, Sir, most sincerely, upon the happy changes, 
which they must be the means of effecting in the system of 
early education." 

Extracts from a review of the Franklir. Primer. Improved 
Reader, and General Class-Book^ published in the North 
American Review. 

^'VVe can say with truth, that these books are certainly 



31 

well adapted to the purpose for which they are intended by 
their highly deserving author, and may be recommended to 
the attention of paients and teachers/' 

From the American Journal of Education, 

At the close of a review of a little work entitled ''Essays 
on the Philosophy of Instruction," the Editor alludes to the 
Franklin Primer, Reader, 8fc. as follows : — They " are in- 
tended to obviate prevailing evils in the manner of teaching 
the English language, and though susceptible of some im- 
provements, are, on the whole, excellently adapted to their 
object. They are arranged as follows : the Franklin Prim- 
er, uniting the purpose both of a primer, and in some roea- 
surej of a spelling-book; the Improved Reader, an inter- 
esting explanatory reading book, of the introductory order; 
and the General Class-Book, containing, among other use- 
ful and original matter, a specimen of a familiar school 
dictionary of definitions and explanations/^ 

Extracts from a, notice of the Franklin Primer, the Im- 
proved Reader, and the General Class-Book, in the Christian 
Examiner and General Review^ published in Boston, Liver- 
pool and London, 

"Such a book" as the Primer, ** followed by others 
adapted to the progressive improvement of the understand- 
ing may well supersede the various spelling-books which 
have, been so long used, and which have so long abused the 
innocent child, with their fearful and interminable array of 
words, no less repulsive from their length, than from the 
utter worthlessness of a great portion of them." 

*' In the improved Reader, the author keeps his plan 
steadily in view. It provides for an easy transition from the 
greatest possible simplicity of language and thought con- 
tained in the Primer, to what requires a little more advance- 
ment of intellect. Still, however, no steps are leaped over, 
and nothing is left unexplained. It proceeds from the well 
known to what is less known, from shorter and more com- 
mon words, to those which are longer and less familiar; 
presenting a few new words in each successive lesson, 
Which are intelligibly defined. One other circumstance is 
Worth mentioning, namely ; the three artificial marks for the 



32 

inflections of voice, are of more value than would readily 
be Conceived by one who has not attended to the subject." 

*' The General Class-book, besides the instructions given 
concerning orthography and pronunciation, consists princi-^ 
pally of exercises in reading chiefly in prose, on a great va- 
riety of useful subjects, instructive in their character, plain 
in style, not soaring into the regions of fancy or fiction/' 

"What has so generally been made a task, and a loath- 
some one, he (the author) has converted into a pleasure 
and a pastime. Every thing is done to encourage the 
learner. And encouragement seems to be all that is want- 
ing in beginning to learn, in the first steps of the infant pu- 
pil. He has enough of curiosity and desire, if they are 
properly met by tlie parent or teacher : and he will advance 
incomparably faster in this way, than by a given task, en^ 
forced against his will.'* 

*' Besides the pleasure which proceeds from understand- 
ing the lessons, which are read, by which the feeling of a 
disgusting task is removed, actual improvement in the man- 
ner of reading is an all-important effect of the plan adopted 
by the author." 

'* The author of the books, which we take pleasure m 
noticing, and in asking for them the attention of our readers, 
does not claim the praise of originality : but he has earned 
forward his plan of facile instruction more completely than 
is done in any similar book in our language, which has come 
to our knowledge. It is a subject not unworthy the atten- 
tion of great and good men ; a subject which has been 
strangely neglected, certainly in our own country." 

** We should be carried too far in our limits, were we 
here to give our views of the facilities and improvements 
which are still to be desired in various branches of study, 
and must content ourse ves with the expression of our good 
wishes to the author of the little books before us, and of 
our hopes, that they may operate a change in our common 
schools, as salutary as his most sanguine desires and expect- 
ations may lead him to predict." 

From the Uingham Gazette. 
The Franklin Primer, the Improved Reader, and the Gen- 
eral ClasS'Bookc *♦! have now before me the opinions of 



33 

twenty-six enlightened judges of the subject, who give it as 
their decided belief that they will be the 'means of effecting 
the most happy changes in the systems of early education? 
The certificates are from Presidents, Professors, Tutors, In- 
structers, &c. of every class and denomination throughout 
the country." 

The following notice of the Franklin Primer^ Improved 
Reader, and General Class-Book, is taken from an article of 
considerable extent in the " Revue Encyclopedique,'* a peri- 
odical work oflugh cliaracter, published in Paris. 

'* Cette serie de lectures est faite dans un excellent esprit, 
et par une personne, qui a evidemment etudie et approfondi 
le sujei qu'elle aborde." " The reading lessons are com- 
posed wiih an excellent spirit, by a person, who has evi- 
dently given much attention to the subject/' 

From a gentleman in Troy, N, F. who has been long en- 
gaged as a Teacher. 
" In regard to the Franklin Primer, the Improved Reader 
and the General Class-Book, it is my settled conviction, 
(after three years' constant trial in the same school, and by 
the same scholars,) that they are the best decidedly that I 
have ever used or seen.'* 

From Mr. L. Bailey , Principal of the Utica Classical, and 

Commercial Lyceum. 
"Mr. Phelps, 

^^Sir — I have carefully examined the series of reading, 
spelling and defining books, published by you, viz. the 
Franklin Primer, Improved Reader, and General Class Book, 
and do not hesitate lo aver, that they are better adapted to 
the capacities of young scholars, and better calculated to fa- 
cilitate their acquisition of the English language, than any 
similar books, that have come under my eye ; and from the 
success which I have had in the use of the two latter, with 
my younger pupils, I do most cordially recommend them to 
the perusal of all, who are engaged in the arduous employ- 
ment of educating youth." L. BAILEY. 
Principal of the Utica C, and C. Lyceum* 

This series of School Books is also recommended by the 
Teacher's Society of Troy, N. Y,j Rev, Alvah Sanfordj Prin- 



34 

dpal of a Literary Institution^ Medina^ Ohio^ Professor 
Sparrow, acting President of Kenyon College, Ohio, Rev, 
John S. Wilson, Principal of the Literary Institutionj Law- 
renceville, Geo., and various others. 



The Popular Reader. 

From the School Committee of Northampton, consisting of 
Rev, Dr, Penney^ and Rev. Messrs, Todd and Stearns, — Ex- 
tract, 

"So far as we have examined the Popular Reader, we 
have formed an opinion decidedly favorable, and have no 
doubt that it will prove a valuable auxiliary to^the cause of 
Education." 

From Mr. J. H. Coffin, Principal of the Fellenherg Acade- 
my and Self- Supporting Institution, Greenfield, Mass. 

"I have exammed with some care, a book entitled *The 
Popular Reader,' intended as a reading book for the higher 
classes in common schools and Academies, and am of opin- 
ion that the choice selection of pieces which it contams, 
together with its valuable lexicography, and Rules for Read- 
ing, render it far superior to most works of a similar design 
now in use. In fact, as it regards usefulness and superior 
adaptation to the wants of Common Schools, I hardly 
know of its equal. The best effects, it seems to me, must 
follow, wherever it is introduced. If the teacher does his 
duty, it cannot fail of this result." 

From Mr. Edward W, B. Cannings A, M, Teacher qf a 
Select English and Classical School, 

CoL. Phelps : — 

I have just finished a somewhat critical review 
of a valuable school book, recently published by yourself, en- 
titled '*The Popular Reader." Popular indeed, it deserves 
to be, and I am fully persuaded will be, when the public 
shall have been made acquainted with its merits, I had 
heard much in its praise before 1 was favored with its peru- 
sal ; but an examination of it has more than substantiated 



35 

all the eulogies it has elicited from others. It is Sir, with 
warm feelings of admiration, that I add my humble tribute 
to its praise. Its selections are remarkably chaste, its lexi- 
cography correct and excellent, and its tj'pographical execu* 
tion surpasses any school book of its price, within my 
knowledge. But not to enter into a particular detail of its 
peculiar excellencies, which have been largely treated of by 
other reviewers, it will suffice to say, that the work carries 
upon its very face, the strongest evidence of the accurate 
tasie and happy discernment of its author, united with a 
thorough knowledge of what is most calculated to attract 
and amuse, while it instructs and improves the young. Its 
intrinsic worth challenges universal favor, and must surely 
give it its due place — in advance of every rival. On the 
whole, it seems in every respect, to "bear acquaintance," 
and unhke some elementary works that have been popular, 
willj I am confident, wear weil. Let School Committees, 
and those who have charge of pupils acquaint themselves 
with this important supplement to a common education, and 
the Popular Reader will be speedily known wherever there 
are youth to read, and approved as extensively as it is 
known. 

1 am, dear Sir, yours with respect, 

E. W. B. CANNING. 

Extract from a review of the work in the New England 
Magazine for November. 
*' We commend the whole series, but the Popular Read- 
er most especially, to the attention of parents and teachers, 
and the public guardians of education. We assure them 
that this last is no hasty and careless compilation. It is the 
fruit of long and laborious research, guided by exceeding 
delicacy of taste, and the nicest moral sensibility. Nothing 
can be better calculated to breathe a taste for pure and ele- 
vated literature into the minds of our common youth : we 
desire and hope, therefore, that it will be the Popular Read^ 
er and Complete Scholar not only in name, but in fact and 
truth, by coming into general use." 

From Mr, L, Tenney, Teacher of the Model Class j at th& 
Teacher's Seminary, Andover. 
**1 am highly pleased with the appearance of this new 
book, so well adapted to the wants of our High Schools 



36 

aud public Seminaries generally. Having understood much 
of the author's design in preparing this work, and having 
for seven years seen the happiest results from the use of his 
preceding works, £ am induced to recommend it as a read- 
ing book, in preference to any other with which I am ac- 
quainted.'* 

The Christian Register ^ in a notice oj the Popular Reader ^ 
speaks thus of the whole series : 

*'No series of school books for reading lessons, within 
our knowledge, is so well adapted to conduct the child, 
from the very simplest words and combination of words, 
onward, by regular gradations, to a relish for tasteful and 
elegant writing. And through the whole much pains is tak- 
en to enable the pupil to read intelligibly, which he will do 
if his instructer is faithful to the author's plan, and uses the 
means which he furnishes for that purpose." 

From Rev* Emerson Davis, Principal of the Westfield Acad- 
emy ^ to the pub Usher r 

Westfield, Oct. 1834. 
Dear Sir, 

** I have examined the Popular Reader, and am 
pleased with the plan and matter of the book. One of the 
great obstacles that retard the progress of youth in knowl- 
edge in our Academies, is an inability to read intelligibly; 
a scholar may read fluently and not understand what he reads. 
There has not been sufficient attention paid hitherto, to the 
meaning of words. The Popular Reader in my opinion, 
surpasses all other reading books in defining more words, in 
annexing illustrations to the words defined, and in reference 
throughout the book to the definitions given in preceding 
chapters. If the school teacher does his duty, the scholar 
who uses the Popular Reader, cannot fail to understand what 
he reads." 

E. DAVIS, Principal vf the Westfield Academy » 

O' The Popular Reader is also recommended by Professor 
Hitchcock, of Amherst College, Rev. Wm. Allen, President 
of Bowdoin College, the School Committee of Greev fields 
Mass, and various others. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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